‘Transparent’ star says his transgender character would envy Caitlyn Jenner’s red- carpet life

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Here’s a roundup of news Monday from the Television Critics Association summer meeting, at which TV networks and streaming services are presenting details on upcoming programs:

MAURA LOVES CAITLYN

Jeffrey Tambor says Maura Pfefferman, his transgender character in “Transparent,” would be envious of the attention Caitlyn Jenner’s getting.

“You bet,” Tambor told a TV critics’ Q&A session Monday. “Maura loves a red carpet and loves a party. Definitely, that’s something she would really like.”

The former Bruce Jenner is documenting her fledgling public journey into womanhood in an E! reality series and has been feted at the Espy Awards, on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine and elsewhere.

“We love Caitlyn,” said Tambor, who’s had dinner with Jenner. She’s gone on record as loving “Transparent,” he said.

Tambor was asked to compare his experience playing a man who opens up to his family about his gender identity with Jenner’s real-life experience.

“If my knees were knocking, you can imagine her knees,” he said after the panel. “I think she is courageous and I told her so. The example she is setting is so, so beautiful and it’s gonna go very, very far. (It’s) not only illustrative but also very inspiring to me.”

He doesn’t think of himself as a spokesman for the transgender cause, he said, “But I think as an ally I can do great good.”

Tambor said that he didn’t foresee Jenner appearing on Amazon’s “Transparent.” She has her own show, he said, smiling.

During what he called “field trips” dressed as Maura, Tambor said he was surprised to find it was easier than he had expected.

“It was life changing. … People don’t look at you,” he said, aside from a few glances. A highlight came at a restaurant, when a man got up to leave and passed by Tambor’s table.

“He said, ‘Have a good day, ladies.’ I said, ‘Yes!’ I felt so good because I had made it up in my head it’s much more.”

When Tambor was asked about the possibility of more “Arrested Development,” he said that “there’s been talk.” But he’s focused strictly on taping season two of “Transparent,” he said, and was carrying script pages in his pocket.

The series returns Dec. 4 on Amazon, which has greenlighted a third season. “Transparent,” which also stars Judith Light and Bradley Whitford, received 11 nominations for next month’s Emmy Awards.

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PERLMAN LOVES AMAZON

Ron Perlman is reveling in his role in Amazon’s “The Hand of God” and the expanding TV world.

“This is the most exciting period I’ve ever seen in television and it’s probably the most exciting place to be if you’re a storyteller,” Perlman said.

He added a wry postscript: “Ten years from now it will be all (expletive) up, but for now it’s a beautiful place.”

Perlman stars in the 10-episode “Hand of God” as a judge seeking vengeance — which he believes is God-directed — for a violent crime against his family. The series is available Sept. 4.

Coming off a satisfying run in FX’s “Sons of Anarchy,” Perlman said he wanted to see if lightning strikes twice.

With “the infusion of so many new voices and new venues” like streaming service Amazon, the increased competition has put originality at a premium, Perlman said.

“The notion of just having a gig that reflects a bunch of stuff I’ve already visited … doesn’t have as much resonance as coming into something where there’s no playbook,” he said.

For Andre Royo, “Hand of God” is a chance to break away from his memorable role as drug addict Reginald “Bubbles” Cousins in “The Wire.”

“I guess I played a junkie really, really, really well,” Royo said, recalling the “rabbit-hole” feeling of being typecast.

His friend Samuel L. Jackson wisely advised him to take the opportunities that came his way and play every character to the best of his abilities, Royo said.

Executive producer Ben Watkins said the actor’s talented portrayal of Mayor Robert “Bobo” Boston “forced us to see him as the mayor.”

“The defining role will not be Bubbles for him. It will be” Bobo, Watkins said.

The series also stars Dana Delany, Garret Dillahunt and Alona Tal. Guest stars will include Erykah Badu, Lance Bass and Jon Tenney.

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AMERICAN APOCALYPSE

Rufus Sewell said his first reaction to playing a post-World War II Nazi in the new Amazon drama “The Man in the High Castle” was reluctance.

In the pilot script, “you didn’t see a lot of him outside strutting up and down corridors and torturing people,” Sewell told a TV critics’ meeting Monday. “I wouldn’t necessarily be interested in playing that, especially for a long period of time.”

But his character becomes more layered in episode two of the drama, which is set in a circa 1960s America that has lost World War II and is under oppressive rule by Germany and Japan. A resistance movement struggles for freedom.

In this alternate history, Sewell’s John Smith is an “all-American hero,” said Sewell (“Killing Jesus,” ”The Pillars of the Earth”). The drama explores how people can turn a blind eye to reality and how a cruel man can convince himself he is just, the English-born actor said.

The 10-part series, based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, is available Nov. 20. Other cast members include Alexa Davalos and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files”), who developed and produces “The Man in the High Castle,” said he hopes it makes viewers take stock.

“What are your values? What do you stand for? How do you differ from the people you see in this show?” he said. The novel, he recalled, compelled him to re-examine the expectation that “the good guys are going to win.”

“I think we as Americans, because we are used to winning and because all of our movies and TV shows have us winning, we just have this, ‘Of course we are going to win,'” he said. “Well, no, not of course. It’s up to us if we are going to win. … I hope this show makes people think about that.”